page_title: USS Freedom (LCS-1)
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: USS Freedom (LCS-1) / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: The littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) conducts flight deck certification with an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Sea Knights of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22.
context_page_description: USS Freedom (LCS-1) is the lead ship of the Freedom-class littoral combat ship for the United States Navy. She is the third vessel to be so named after the concept of freedom. She is the design competitor produced by the Lockheed Martin consortium, in competition with the General Dynamics–designed USS Independence. She was officially accepted by the Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast, on behalf of the US Navy, from the Lockheed Martin/Marinette Marine/Gibbs and Cox team, in Marinette, Wisconsin, on 18 September 2008.
  She is designed for a variety of missions in shallow waters, minesweeping and humanitarian relief, capable against submarines and small ships, but not designed to take on large warships. The ship is a semi-planing monohull design capable of over 40 knots.
  Commissioned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 8 November 2008, Freedom is home-ported in San Diego, and assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One.
  On 20 June 2020, the US Navy announced that they would be taking Freedom out of commission in March 2021, and placing her, along with Independence, Fort Worth, and Coronado in reserve.
context_section_description: Freedom is the first of two dramatically different LCS designs being produced; the other, USS Independence (LCS-2), is a trimaran built by a team led by General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works and Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. Freedom is designed to be a fast, maneuverable, and networked surface combatant for missions such as anti-mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and humanitarian relief.
  The ship is a semi-planing steel monohull with an aluminum superstructure. The friction stir welded aluminum deckhouse is very flat which, combined with an angular design, makes it difficult for radar systems to detect. The ship is 387.6 ft (118 m) in length, displaces 3,400 long tons (3,450 t) fully loaded and can exceed 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph).
  The design incorporates a large reconfigurable seaframe to allow rapidly interchangeable mission modules, a flight deck with integrated helicopter launch, recovery and handling system and the capability to launch and recover boats (manned and unmanned) from both the stern and side.
  The flight deck is 1.5 times the size of that of a standard surface ship, and uses a Trigon traversing system to move helicopters in and out of the hangar. The ship has two ways to launch and recover various mission packages: a stern ramp and a starboard side door near the waterline. The mission module bay has a 3-axis crane for positioning modules or cargo. The fore deck has a modular weapons zone which can be used for a BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm (2.2 in) gun mount or missile launcher. A Rolling Airframe Missile launcher is mounted above the hangar for short-range defense against aircraft and cruise missiles, and .50 caliber (12.7 mm) gun mounts are provided topside.
  The core crew will be 40 sailors, usually joined by a mission package crew and an aviation detachment for a total crew of about 75. Automation allows a reduced crew, which greatly reduces operating costs, but workload can still be "grueling."
  Four 800 kilowatts (1,100 hp) Fincantieri Isotta-Fraschini diesel generators provide 3.2 megawatts (4,300 hp) of electrical power to power the ship systems.
  Freedom has relaxed stability so it can rapidly change course.
caption: USS Freedom with original gray paint scheme in September 2009
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